State transportation officials are ready to move forward with a $710 million makeover of U.S. 280 -- a new plan that doesn't rely entirely on elevated toll lanes that doomed a previous proposal to unsnarl the congested highway.

Gov. Bob Riley said Wednesday the plan could end gridlock on a 16-mile stretch of the highway by the end of 2013.

The new design from the Alabama Department of Transportation addresses the most common complaint about the previous plan -- an elevated toll road that ran the full length of the project. Communities between Red Mountain and Interstate 459 did not like the appearance of the elevated roadway.

"The people in Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia said they didn't want the elevated structure there," Riley said in an interview. "So we went back and redesigned it."

Here are the key details of the new plan.

The stretch of U.S. 280 between the Elton B. Stephens Expressway and I-459 will have six lanes devoted to free travel and four interior lanes converted into toll lanes -- all level with the current roadway. A series of interchanges will be added so motorists can get on and get off the highway.

An elevated toll road with four lanes would start at Interstate 459 and extend to Eagle Point Parkway east of Greystone. Six lanes of free access roadway would remain on that stretch of U.S. 280.

The section between Red Mountain and I-459 will cost an estimated $300 million while the elevated road will cost $410 million. Unlike the previous proposal, the project will not be paid for with private funds.

The mayors of Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia Hills all said Wednesday they support the plan, following a meeting last week with Riley and ALDOT officials. Mountain Brook Mayor Terry Oden called it "a dream come true," while Vestavia Hills Mayor Butch Zaragoza said it seemed "very workable."

97,000 and counting

Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer said the new plan alleviates two major concerns about the project -- the presence of an elevated roadway next to the city's Hollywood neighborhood and the proximity of the ramp that connects the Elton B. Stephens Expressway and U.S. 280 to homes in that neighborhood. He said the ramp will be moved to put it farther away.

"There may be some other issues, but in the meeting ALDOT appeared to be open and to want a project that everyone is happy with," McBrayer said. "It appears now that what they've got would work. We just want to get final approval from our council and our residents, in particular our Hollywood residents."

Riley said the plan fixes a problem on a road that was designed for 50,000 vehicles a day that now has 97,000 a day and is projected to approach 140,000 in the next decade.

Once the toll road project is finished, he said, commuters could be traveling from Red Mountain to Double Oak Mountain in about 10 minutes -- a fraction of the time it takes now.

State transportation officials said the work to expand U.S. 280 from the Red Mountain Expressway to Shelby County 39 will begin in about a year.

"Barring any unknowns we can construct it in three years," said Don Vaughn, chief engineer and deputy director of ALDOT.

No private money

Unlike past plans that called for a mix of private and public dollars, construction under the new plan will be all public money, Vaughn said. Financing will come through the Federal Highway Administration.

"We plan to do this as a state project. We will use no private money. The tolls will generate about half the cost of building it or maybe a little more, and we will use innovative financing for the rest," Vaughn said. "The state will collect the revenues to pay off the debt and maintain the highway."

Tolls will be taken through electronic transponders so there will be no toll booths along the route, Vaughn said.

Highway officials struck on the latest plan after trying to develop a way to elevate only the section of U.S. 280 that runs for five miles east of I-459.

"We realized we were creating a problem. Coming down to grade with that number of cars was not doable. We said if we can't go all the way to the expressway, we don't need to do anything," Vaughn said.

At the end of the five miles of elevated lanes at Eagle Point Parkway, ALDOT now plans to construct two lanes eastbound to provide four lanes to Shelby County 47. Then only one lane will be constructed for six miles to Shelby County 39.

There will be no additional lanes constructed to westbound 280 from Shelby County 39 to Eagle Point Parkway.

That's because the congested traffic coming off the elevated lanes will need more capacity.

"Suddenly traffic will free-flow and the eastbound lanes will be intermingled. We have to add capacity to 280 where it comes back to grade," Vaughn said.

Think Huntsville

In the Jefferson County portion of U.S. 280, ALDOT will build a series of overpasses similar to those along Memorial Parkway in Huntsville. The interchanges are planned at I-459 and Dolly Ridge, Pump House and Cherokee roads.

Additional lanes will be added to the expressway, some will be elevated and all will be tied in with ramps to U.S. 280.

Vaughn said the project makes sense from an engineering and a financial standpoint.

Figg Engineering of Tallahassee has been hired to do the engineering work for the entire project. Company President Linda Figg, who conducted a series of public meetings about elevating U.S. 280 from Eagle Point to the expressway in 2006, said the ALDOT plan "is a great answer to all traffic problems on 280."

Riley said it's time to stop talking about the U.S. 280 problems and fast-track a fix.

"We could have you driving on that in three years," he said. "Normally it would take us three years to get the environmental permitting."

Riley said the ALDOT already has started an environmental assessment.

News staff writers William Thornton and Carol Robinson contributed to this report.